Senate Republicans confirmed a staggering tranche of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday as the government shutdown continues.

Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm the batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees, a move that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits. It also came as the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government.

The slate of confirmed nominees included many of Trump’s top allies and former candidates that he hand-picked to run in previous elections.

Some of the most recognizable on the list were former Republican Senate candidate and ex-NFL star Herschel Walker, who was tapped as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, and Sergio Gor, a top advisor to Trump who he picked to be his U.S. Ambassador to India.

Other posts confirmed included a wave of senior administration officials, several prosecutors and the reappointment of Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins to a seat on the commission until 2031.

The vote also marked the second time that Senate Republicans have deployed the new rule change surrounding confirmations since going ‘nuclear’ on Senate rules last month.

Republicans opted to change confirmation rules to allow a simple majority of votes to advance large swathes of nominees in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus’ blockade of Trump’s picks that lasted nearly nine months into his presidency.

Typically, subcabinet-level nominees, particularly those with bipartisan support out of committee, are sped through the Senate either by unanimous consent or through a voice vote, two fast-track procedural moves in the upper chamber. But Senate Democrats refused to relent, and Republicans argued they forced their hand on a rules change that they believed would benefit both parties in the future.

The rule change allows for an unlimited number of nominees to be confirmed in a single batch, but includes several procedural hoops to jump through before a final confirmation vote.

Senate Republicans previously confirmed 48 of Trump’s picks last month. Among that batch were Kimberly Guilfoyle, who Trump tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who was picked to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland.

An expected sixth vote to reopen the government didn’t come to fruition on Tuesday, but lawmakers face a new wrinkle: the possibility that furloughed employees won’t be paid. 

The government shutdown marched into its seventh day with both Senate Republicans and Democrats still at odds on a path forward, and no real clear end in sight. The Senate was expected to vote on the GOP’s plan again, but no agreement could be reached to bring the bill, along with the Democrats’ counter-proposal, to the floor. 

Both sides are still entrenched in their positions, too. Senate Democrats want a firm deal on the extension of expiring ObamaCare tax credits to earn their votes to reopen the government, while Senate Republicans have promised that negotiations on the credits can happen once the government is open again.

Lawmakers failed to hold a sixth vote to reopen the government Tuesday as a new White House memo warned that furloughed workers may not get paid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has continued to ramp up his messaging that Americans broadly support their push, and blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans for not being in session as a major roadblock to progress. 

‘Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed and thousands more are working without pay. And meanwhile, House Republicans are getting paid and not working,’ Schumer said. ‘So federal workers working and not getting paid. House Republicans paid and not working. Very bad. Very bad thing for them. Very bad picture for them.’

While lawmakers traded barbs and discussed an off-ramp on Capitol Hill, the latest memo from the White House, first reported by Axios, signaled that up to 750,000 nonessential furloughed federal workers may not be paid.

The memo adds fresh uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal employees caught in the political crossfire.

When asked if it was the White House’s position whether federal workers should be paid back pay, President Donald Trump said, ‘I would say it depends on who we’re talking about.’

‘I can tell you this,’ Trump said. ‘The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about. But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.’

Many lawmakers had just learned about the memo as of Tuesday afternoon. It suggested that a 2019 law signed by Trump that guaranteed back pay for furloughed workers in future shutdowns may not have to be followed.

‘I just heard that,’ Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., said. ‘My phones are lighting up.’

When asked if the memo hurt or helped talks, she said, ‘It could get more urgent, it also could tick a lot of people off.’

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that the memo was ‘probably not a good message to send right now to people who are not being paid.’

‘I’m not an attorney, but I think it’s bad strategy to even say that sort of stuff,’ Tillis said. ‘We got a lot of hard-working people there on the sidelines now because the Democrats have put them there.’

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that she believed that issue had been settled with the 2019 law, but as a ‘back up,’ Congress could pass a bill that any ‘obligations that were incurred during the shutdown are authorized to be paid.’

And Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, argued that regardless of the memo, the law said ‘shall.’

‘I left my law degree in the car, but ‘shall’ is relatively straightforward,’ he said. ‘I think it doesn’t matter at all, because we’re fighting for healthcare.’

The latest pressure tactic on Senate Democrats comes after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed in a previous memo that mass firings could be on the horizon beyond the typical furloughs during a shutdown.

It also comes after OMB Director Russ Vought announced nearly $30 billion in federal funding was set to be withheld from blue cities and states. 

Both Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wanted to see federal workers get paid, but contended that the issue would go away if Schumer and Senate Democrats reopened the government.

‘My assumption is that furloughed workers will get back pay,’ Thune said. ‘But that being said, this is very simple. Open up the government and this is a non-issue. We don’t have to have this conversation. Everybody gets paid when the government is open.’

Meanwhile, the previous tactics did little to nudge Democrats from their position, and so far, have not killed talks between either side.

But Sen. Jean Shaheen, D-N.H., who has been a key communicator for Senate Democrats in bipartisan talks, said that Vought’s actions weren’t helping matters.

‘It would be a lot easier to resolve the situation if Russ Vought would stop talking,’ Shaheen said. 

Former FBI Director James Comey will be arraigned in federal court Wednesday morning after being indicted on charges of alleged false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

Comey has said he is innocent.

The former FBI director is set to have his first court appearance at 10 a.m. Eastern Time in the Albert V. Bryan United States Courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The judge presiding over the hearing is District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff.

Comey was indicted in September by a federal grand jury on two counts: alleged false statements within jurisdiction of the legislative branch and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

The indictment alleges that Comey obstructed a congressional investigation into the disclosure of sensitive information in violation of 18 USC 1505.

The indictment also alleges Comey made a false statement when he stated he did not authorize someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source. According to the indictment, that statement was false.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported in July that Comey was under criminal investigation by the FBI. The probe into Comey centered on whether he lied to Congress during his Sept. 30, 2020, testimony about his handling of the original Trump–Russia probe at the FBI, known inside the bureau as ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’

‘No one is above the law,’ Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X after the indictment, adding that it ‘reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.’

FBI Director Kash Patel said ‘previous corrupt leadership and their enablers weaponized federal law enforcement, damaging once proud institutions and severely eroding public trust.’

‘Every day, we continue the fight to earn that trust back, and under my leadership, this FBI will confront the problem head-on,’ Patel said. ‘Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose.’

He added: ‘Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch.’

Comey, after being indicted, posted an Instagram video, denying the allegations.

‘My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way,’ he said. ‘We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she’s right.’

‘But I’m not afraid,’ Comey added.

‘My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I am innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith,’ Comey said.

Fox News Digital also exclusively reported that former CIA Director John Brennan is under criminal investigation related to the Trump–Russia probe. 

Under federal law, prosecutors have five years to bring a charge, with the five-year mark occurring Tuesday.

The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The FBI opened its Trump-Russia probe in July 2016, known inside the bureau as ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’ 

President Donald Trump, during his first term, fired Comey in May 2017. 

Days later, Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to take over the FBI’s original ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation.

After nearly two years, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.

Shortly after, John Durham was appointed as special counsel to investigate the origins of the ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ probe.

Durham found that the FBI ‘failed to act’ on a ‘clear warning sign’ that the bureau was the ‘target’ of a Clinton-led effort to ‘manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes’ ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

‘The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,’ Durham’s report states.

‘Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye,’ the report continued.

Durham, in his report, said the FBI ‘failed to act on what should have been — when combined with other incontrovertible facts — a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.’

The Vatican’s top diplomat on Monday condemned both Hamas’ ‘inhuman and indefensible’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ‘ongoing massacre’ in Gaza, warning that even legitimate self-defense cannot justify the destruction of a ‘largely defenseless population.’

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and one of Pope Leo XIV’s advisers, spoke in an interview marking the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel — a raid that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken hostage.

Parolin said Israel’s military response has stretched far beyond the bounds of proportionality, turning Gaza’s crowded neighborhoods into ruins.

‘The war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,’ he told Vatican media.

‘Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves,’ he said, ‘but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality.’

Reuters reported that Hamas-run Gaza health authorities claim Israel’s campaign has resulted in over 67,000 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians.

The remarks rank among the Church’s sharpest rebukes of the war. They also mark a shift toward a more forceful Vatican voice under Leo, who succeeded Pope Francis in May.

Parolin also faulted global powers for their paralysis.

‘It is… clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,’ he said.

‘I can only repeat the very clear words spoken by Pope Leo on July 20: ‘I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.’’

Parolin went further, questioning the morality of arms sales to parties in the conflict.

‘It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen,’ he said.

‘We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy… of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.’

In July, Pope Leo XIV expressed sadness and called for a ceasefire after Gaza’s only Catholic Church was hit in an apparent Israeli strike, leaving at least two dead and several injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said ‘stray ammunition’ hit the church.

Parolin’s warning lands as European leaders face growing pressure to do more than issue statements of concern. His use of ‘massacre’ echoed humanitarian groups that say Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has collapsed.

At the same time, he reiterated the Church’s demand that Hamas free all remaining hostages.

‘Those attacks were inhuman and indefensible,’ he said, underscoring that neither side’s suffering diminishes the other’s.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vatican on the matter.

Reuters contributed to this report.